Social Justice Leadership: Coming to Know Another Possibility through Autoethnography

Traditional notions of learning, teaching, schooling, and leading, contribute to the inequity and injustice found in schools. In this study, autoethnography was used as a process and product to explore one leader’s journey opening and leading a new “alternative” school as the school’s principal. These experiences create the backdrop of a larger narrative about public schooling and leadership. The findings, expressed through narrative, demonstrate that schools do not have to beget oppression, and school practices, framed in social justice, can create the needed environment and culture to develop liberatory praxis

Safety at Schools: Identifying the Costs Associated with the Necessary Safeguards for Arming Educators

Editors’ note: The Rural Educator publishes a policy brief each issue, intended to explore topics pertinent to rural education policy and advocacy. The issue of school safety is particularly timely, especially for rural schools. We believe this essay, based on surveys of school leaders in Colorado, takes a unique perspective by examining the financial costs that might be associated with policies to place guns in schools

Preclinical characterization of the JAK/STAT inhibitor SGI-1252 on skeletal muscle function, morphology, and satellite cell content

<div><p>Background</p><p>Recent studies have highlighted the JAK/STAT signaling pathway in the regulation of muscle satellite cell behavior. Herein we report preclinical studies designed to characterize the effects of a novel JAK/STAT inhibitor on plantar flexor skeletal muscle function, morphology, and satellite cell content.</p><p>Methods</p><p>The compound, SGI-1252, was administered orally (400mg/kg) in a 10% dextrose solution to wild type mice (n = 6) 3 times per week for 8 weeks. A control group (n = 6) received only the dextrose solution.</p><p>Results</p><p>SGI-1252 was well tolerated, as animals displayed similar weight gain over the 8-week treatment period. Following treatment, fatigue in the gastrocnemius-soleus-plantaris complex was greater in the SGI-1252 mice during a 300 second tetanic contraction bout (p = 0.035), though both the rate of fatigue and maximal force production were similar. SGI-1252 treated mice had increased type II myofiber cross-sectional area (1434.8 ± 225.4 vs 1754.7 ± 138.5 μm²), along with an increase in wet muscle mass (125.45 ± 5.46 vs 139.6 ± 12.34 mg, p = 0.032) of the gastrocnemius relative to vehicle treated mice. SGI-1252 treatment reduced gastrocnemius STAT3 phosphorylation 53% (94.79 ± 45.9 vs 44.5 ± 6.1 MFI) and significantly increased the concentration of Pax7⁺ satellite cells (2589.2 ± 105.5 vs 2859.4 ± 177.5 SC/mm³) in the gastrocnemius. SGI-1252 treatment suppressed MyoD (p = 0.013) and Myogenin (p<0.0001) expression in human primary myoblasts, resulting in reduced myogenic differentiation (p = 0.039).</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>Orally delivered SGI-1252 was well tolerated, attenuates skeletal muscle STAT3 activity, and increases satellite cell content in mouse gastrocnemius muscle, likely by inhibiting myogenic progression.</p></div

Proliferation and expression of myogenic regulatory factors MyoD and myogenin.

<p>(A) Proliferation was assessed using 5-ethynil-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU⁺) following 6, 24, 48, and 72 hours in a growth medium. Myogenic regulatory factors (B) MyoD⁺ and (C) Myogenin⁺ nuclei were assessed following 24 and 72 hours in a differentiation medium. Representative images of (D) MyoD⁺ and (E) Myogenin⁺ nuclei at 24 hours. Scale bar = 50μm. * Significance p < 0.05.</p

Body mass.

<p>Wild-type mice were weighed and treated 3 days a week for 8 weeks with either SGI-1252 or a vehicle solution. Data are means ± SD.</p

Functional characteristics.

<p>(A) Maximal specific force and (B) fatigue were assessed to determine functional characteristics of the gastrocnemius-plantaris-soleus complex. Data are presented as means ± S.D. * Significance of p < 0.05.</p

Muscle characteristics.

<p>(A) Gastrocnemius wet muscle mass, (B) Proportion of type I and II myofibers, (C) type I and (D) type II myofiber cross-sectional area (mCSA) with (E) Representative images of controls and SGI-1252 gastrocnemius type I (bright green) and type II (dark) myofibers. White square in images denotes the boundaries of the enlarged image. Scale bar = 200 μm and 50 μm respectively. * Significance of p < 0.05.</p

STAT3 and satellite cell concentrations.

<p>(A) Phosphorylated-STAT3 displayed as a percentage of the total STAT3 concentration. (B) Histological quantification of Pax7⁺ satellite cells per volume of tissue with a (C) representative image from control and SGI-1252 treated mice. White arrows indicate the location of Pax7⁺ cells. Scale bar = 50 μm. * Significance p < 0.05.</p